Overview

Written by Chris Maser, one of the architects of the sustainability movement, Interactions of Land, Ocean and Humans: A Global Perspective explores a critical number of the myriad aspects that comprise the great, reciprocal feedback loops between the mountain peaks, the deep sea, and everywhere in between. Maser's exploration of these connections gives us the tools required to open our imaginations and our scientific literacy, offering insights into the relationships between the land, sea, and people that could influence us toward better decisions. The author examines the hydrological cycle, hydrological continuum, and anthropogenic pollution of various kinds from the atmosphere to deep belowground. He also highlights connections by detailing how human behavior changes the atmosphere, which changes the oceans, which alters the climate, which alters the atmosphere and thus the ocean, and so on. The book then explores the biophysical commonalities between landscapes and seascapes, as well as the habitats, in each realm. It covers marine fisheries; marine protected areas; oceans as a commodity, as part of the global commons, as a biophysical living trust for which we are the trustees and the children of today and beyond are the beneficiaries; and more. Can we arrest this deleterious process? Yes, but it will take a dramatic shift in human behavior worldwide. Why? Because, just as the collective human behavior and lack of awareness caused the problems in the first place, the level of consciousness that caused the problem is not the level of consciousness that can fix it. We must shift our thinking from that which is symptomatic to that which is systemic if we are to have a sustainably productive environment through time. Maser gives us the understanding of the biophysical interactions among the lands, oceans, and peoples of the world needed to create sustainable solutions to environmental problems.

Full Product Details

Author:   Chris Maser
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ebooks
Imprint:   CRC Press
ISBN:  

9781482226409

ISBN 10:   1482226405
Pages:   332
Publication Date:   06 October 2014
Audience:   General/trade ,  College/higher education ,  General ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Electronic book text
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock  
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Table of Contents

THE GREAT FEEDBACK LOOP BETWEEN LAND AND SEA Meeting the Ocean WATER'S JOURNEY FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP TO THE SEA WATER, A CAPTIVE OF GRAVITY THE JOURNEY BEGINS The Stream-Order Continuum Roads, Urban Sprawl, and Water How We Think About Water Catchments The Hydrological Continuum From Wells to the River Forest-Dependent Industries Of Communities and Bioregions SUMMARY ENDNOTES THE RECIPROCAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAND AND SEA THE ANTHROPOCENE HOW FORESTS, SALMON, AND MONSOONS UNITE LAND AND SEA From Forests Watered by Maritime Storms to Wooden Mariners Plying the Seven Seas From The Forest To The Sea And Back Again, the Salmon's Story Air Circumnavigates the Globe As Wind Dust Biogenic Aerosols Anthropogenic Pollution Of Monsoons and Dynasties SUMMARY ENDNOTES THE RECIPROCAL FEEDBACK LOOPS TODAY CHEMICAL POLLUTION How Aboveground Water-Borne Pollutants Get Into the Ocean How Belowground Water-Borne Pollutants Get Into the Ocean Once in the World's Oceans, Do All Pesticide Residues Stay There? Dead Zones The Agricultural Connection The Fishery-Nitrogen Connection The Industrial Connection The Weather Connection ACIDIFICATION Corn As Biofuel Carbon Dioxide and Ocean Acidification THE COELACANTH'S STORY SUMMARY ENDNOTES THE OCEAN AS A COMMONDITY ENDNOTECHAPTER EXPLOITATION OCEAN TRAVEL WHALING OVERFISHING OFFSHORE OIL SUMMARY ENDNOTES FLOTSAM NATURE'S LIFE-SUSTAINING MARINE DRIFTWOOD HUMAN GARBAGE Micro-Plastics The Great Garbage Patches The Plastic Island Tsunami Debris SUMMARY ENDNOTES TEMPERATURE AN AIRBORNE PARADOX THE WORLD OF PELAGIC MICROBES ANTHROPOGENIC-INDUCED CHANGE INDICRECT EFFECTS OF OCEAN WARMING HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THIS? SUMMARY ENDNOTES THE OCEAN AS A BIOPHYSICAL LIVING TRUST ENDNOTES THE OCEAN COMMONS EXPERIENCING THE COMMONS THE COMMONS USUFRUCT LAW HOW THE COMMONS USUFRUCT LAW AROSE LOSING SIGHT OF THE COMMONS USUFRUCT LAW RECAPTURING THE COMMONS USUFRUCT LAW Principle 1: Sharing Life's Experiences Connects Us To One Another Principle 2: Cooperation and Coordination Are the Bedrock of Sustaining the Social-Environmental Commons Principle 3: The Art of Living Lies in How We Practice Relationships Principle 4: There is More Beauty and Peace Than Ugliness and Cruelty Principle 5: People Must Be Equally Informed if They Are To Function As A Truly Democratic Community and Society Principle 6: We Must Consciously Limit Our Wants Principle 7: Every Decision Is The Author of a Never-Ending Story of Cause and Effect Principle 8: Simplicity is the Key to Contentment, Adaptability, and Survival Principle 9: Marvel at the Abundance and Resilience of planet Earth Principle 10: Only Mobile Property Can Be Owned Outright Principle 11: Nature, Spirituality, and Human Well-Being Are Paramount Principle 12: Every Legal Citizen Deserves the Right To Vote Principle 13: We Must Choose; In That We Have No Choice Principle 14: We Change the World Simply Because We Exist OUR CHALLENGE IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY SUMMARY ENDNOTES THE OCEAN AS A BIOPHYSICAL LIVING TRUST THE NATURAL<->CULTURAL CONTINUUM HOW HUMAN THINKING AFFECTS THE OCEAN THE UTOPIAN MYTH A BIOLOGICAL LIVING TRUST The Ocean As a Biophysical Living Trust A Biophysical Living Trust as a Big Idea SUMMARY ENDNOTES GOVERNING THE COMMONS AS A BIOLOGICAL LIVING TRUST RECOGNIZING PERCEPTION AS TRUTH WEALTH VERSUS MONEY-WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE? LESSONS WE NEED TO LEARN Lesson One: Emphasize Quality Rather Than Quantity Lesson Two: Favor Biophysical Effectiveness Over Economic Efficiency Lesson Three: Recognize That Loss of Sustainability Occurs Over Time Lesson Four: Recognize That Resource Issues Are Complex and Process-Driven Lesson Five: Accept the Uncertainty of Change, Its Novelty, and Its Potential Opportunities Lesson Six: Understand That Loss of Material Possessions Does Not Herald the End of the World Our Ultimate Lesson THE CHANGING BIOPHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT THE NEED FOR ADAPTIVE PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNANCE Principle 1: Responsibility Principle 2: Matching Scales Principle 3: Precaution Principle 4: Adaptive Caretaking Principle 5: Full-Cost Allocation Principle 6: Participation Principle 7: Shared Leadership THE MEANING OF SHARED OR REVOLVING LEADERSHIP PSYCHOLOGICAL MATURITY AND TRUSTEESHIP OF THE COMMONS Intra-personal: How We Treat Ourself Inter-personal: How We Treat Others Between People and the Environment Between People in the Present and Those of the Future SUMMARY ENDNOTES REPAIRING THE OCEAN COMMONS HOW THE OCEAN COMMONS IS TREATED IS A MATTER OF HUMAN VALUES UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING OF REPAIR Why Restoration Is Not Possible Reason One: Change Is A Constant Process Reason Two: Human Have Fundamentally Altered the World Throughout the Millennia Reason Three: No Records Exist of Conditions Prior to the European Immigration Reason Four: We Cannot Go Back In Time Restoration As We Currently Think of It Enter the Concept of Restoration Rethinking the Concept of Restoration The Balance of Nature We Humans Are A Natural Part of Nature Repairing Biophysical Systems-Special Considerations Microhabitats Mutualistic Symbiotic Relationships Endemic Species Rare Species MARINE PROTECTED AREAS Why Marine Protected Areas Are Necessary A Functional Understanding of Habitat Habitat Fragmentation versus Habitat Connectivity Marine Protected Areas per se BEYOND THE PROTECTED AREAS SUMMARY ENDNOTES WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? WHO ARE WE AS A CULTURE TODAY? CATEGORIES OF VALUE Universal Values Cultural Values Individual Values THE CENTRAL TENET OF EDUCATION WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO NURTURE CHILDREN? HOW THE CHILDREN OF TODAY ARE EDUCATED SUMMARY ENDNOTES CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Reviews

It's been a very rewarding experience reviewing Chris's book, far more fun and educational than I ever anticipated. Through his work as a scientist and his personal experience, Chris takes the reader on a journey around the world to explain, understand and appreciate the scientific, economic and emotional linkages between the land, oceans and people. He reminds us that our actions today are the choices that will determine the environmental legacy we leave for future generations. Also, that if the human species is to exist we must do no harm to the very commons that support us at all levels of life. And, in conclusion, how we educate our youth will provide the foundation of hope needed to show the world that we must change our way of thinking if we are to save us from ourselves. -Rollin R. Geppert, Forester, Washington State Department of Ecology The oft quoted axiom that everything is related to everything else is widely saluted as a theoretically construct, but it is rarely seriously explored, perhaps because of the complexities of real life. This book is different. In Interactions of Land, Oceans, and Humans, Chris Maser systematically describes often remarkably counterintuitive biophysical relationships and interactions. However difficult to understand and appreciate, everything, including humans and nonhumans, is an interactive, interdependent part of a system whole. And, forget about some idealized, reassuring notion of the balance of nature. Maser totally debunks such thinking with a hardy dose of cutting edge science and common sense. -Robert T. Lackey, Professor, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife,Oregon State University All life is connected, a universal concept that in Maser's lyrical prose pulsates with the constant interchanges between land and sea. Interactions of Land, Oceans and Humans: A Global Perspective describes a planet of marvelous and intricate design too precious to defile. Yet defile it we have, as Maser recounts in unflinching detail. Despite his disheartening review of how badly humans have behaved since the advent of agriculture, Maser manages to leave us with optimism. The way forward, he says, is to reconnect what we have broken-to reestablish the global common. He challenges us to mend our thinking with cooperative humility. Acting now will leave a sustainable world as our legacy to all generations. Who can resist that hope? -Jane Braxton Little, Writer/photographer

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